Tree-like, up to 35 meters high, stems with persistent petiole bases, upper leaves ascending obliquely, lower leaves drooping, forming a sparser capitate crown. Leaves up to 6 m long; petiole long and slender, much flattened; pinnae linear-lanceolate, 18-40 cm long, short acuminate at the tip, gray-green, with obvious keeled protuberances, 2 or 3 clustered, hairy, the lower pinnae becoming long and stiffly acicular. Spathe long, large and plump, inflorescence a dense panicle; male flowers oblong or ovate, shortly stalked, white, brittle; calyx cup-shaped, apically 3-obtusely toothed; petals 3, obliquely ovate; stamens 6, filaments very short; female flowers subglobose, shortly stalked; calyx similar to that of the male flowers, but enlarged after anthesis, 1-2 times shorter than corolla; petals rounded; staminodes 6, scalelike. Fruit oblong or oblong-ellipsoid, 3.5-6.5 cm, deep orange-yellow at maturity, flesh plump. Seed 1, flattened, acute at both ends, longitudinally grooved on the ventral surface. Flowering March-April, fruiting September-October.
Flowering characteristics: spathe long, large and plump, inflorescence a dense panicle; male flowers oblong or ovate, short-stalked, white, brittle; calyx cup-shaped, apical 3 obtuse teeth; petals 3, obliquely ovate; stamens 6, filaments are very short; female flowers subglobose, short-stalked; calyx similar to that of the male flowers, but enlarged after the flowering, shorter than the corolla by a factor of 1-2; petals orbicular, staminodes 6, scalelike.
The date palm has a long history of cultivation in the Arab region, almost all over the Arab countries. Ancient Arab Bedouin people put dates as the main food, out of the usual daily consumption is out of the camel caravan long-distance trekking on the road indispensable "dry food", because the distance and time are very long, the general food is easy to corruption and deterioration, but the date of the unique high energy, easy to store for a long time and easy to digest the reason why It became the main food of the journey. Over the years, the cultivation of date palms has spread to a wide range of Arab countries and regions, with Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other countries being the largest growers and exporters of date palms.
Iraq is the largest date palm exporter in the world, with more than 32 million date palms, or 3 per capita, accounting for about one-third of the total number of date palms in the world. The annual output of dates is more than 400,000 tons, and 80% of them are exported to more than 50 countries and regions in the world, which is a large foreign exchange earning product. Its dates are of high quality, sweet but not greasy and rich in nutrients, and can be seen in many places. Most of the dates most commonly seen in China come from Iraq, and are commonly known as "Iraqi honey dates". The earliest history of its cultivation in the region can be traced back to 5000 B.C., and the world's oldest written law, the Code of Hammurabi, stipulates that anyone who cuts down another person's date palm tree shall be punished with a fine of one kilogram of silver, which shows that people at that time attached great importance to the date palm tree. Egypt in North Africa is also the world's largest date palm planting country, with an annual output of 1.1 million tons (2007 statistics), date palm planting on both sides of the Nile River, and different varieties and specifications of dates can be found in the market during the date palm season every year, and in addition to the domestic sales of the Egyptian date palm export has also become an important source of income generation for the country. Saudi Arabia is also world famous for its dates, and is one of the world's top three date-producing countries. According to the latest statistics, there are 24 million date palms of more than 400 varieties throughout Saudi Arabia, with an annual output of 1 million tons. It is also the largest consumer of dates, with an annual consumption of 500,000 tons. In addition to the export of raw fruits, in order to increase exports, Saudi Arabia has in recent years vigorously pursued the deep processing of dates, which has been processed into date juice, date sugar and so on.
Dates in the Xinjiang shopping center have to buy oh, the price is also very cheap.